My First Digital Dollar Was 4 Cents on Medium
The internet paid me for the first time and I felt nothing. Then two strangers changed that.
Welcome to the First Digital Dollar Project
Every week, a solopreneur shares the honest story of how they earned their first dollar online. They also join me on Substack Live to dive deeper into their journey.
Each story follows one path from idea to struggle to income. You will see the doubts they faced, the pivots they made, and the exact steps that led to that first sale.
Whether you are still searching for your breakthrough or already building momentum, these stories show you what is possible when you take action.
This post is a guest contribution from Claudia Faith , a fellow solopreneur sharing the story of that first sale.
More on the project and the list of contributors:
4 cents.
That was the first time the internet paid me for my words. I’d written something on Medium about my life, my journey as a writer, something about design thinking — honestly, the topic barely mattered.
Medium paid by views, and after a few weeks of publishing, the algorithm did its thing.
A few cents turned into a dollar. Then a few more.
I should have felt something. A spark, a rush, proof that I could do this. But it landed flat. It was a numbers game. Strangers scrolled past my words, the platform counted eyeballs, and a tiny fraction of revenue trickled into my account. Nobody chose to pay me. A system did.
So yes, technically, Medium gave me my first digital dollar.
But it didn’t feel like mine.
The Dollar That Actually Mattered
Right after having started my online writing journey on Medium, I moved to Substack.
Why?
Because every single person on Medium said that if they had to start from 0, they’d do it on Substack. So I did.
Three months into my Substack journey, everything shifted.
I’d been writing about growing on Substack — the messy, real version of it. Not “10 hacks to go viral.” The kind where you publish into what feels like silence and wonder if anyone’s actually reading.
One evening, I wrote a Note. Nothing fancy. It said something along the lines of: don’t worry about paid subscribers right now. They come at some point. Just keep going.
That was it. No clever hook. No strategy. Just something I personally felt deeply at that moment, typed out and posted before I could overthink it.
Two people subscribed as paid members. Almost at the same time.
I still know exactly who they were.
Why This One Hit Different
Here’s the thing about Substack versus a platform like Medium. On Medium, someone scrolls past your headline in a feed. If they pause for 30 seconds, you get a fraction of a cent. They didn’t choose you. They chose to scroll.
On Substack, a paid subscription is a deliberate act. A real person looks at your work, opens their wallet, and says: I want more of this. Your words are worth my money.
That’s not an algorithm deciding. That’s a human being deciding.
And when those two people made that decision three months into my journey — based on a Note about just keeping going — it rewired something in my brain. It wasn’t about the $5 or $10. It was proof that my specific voice, my specific experience, resonated enough for someone to put actual money behind it.
The Medium dollar was data. The Substack dollar was personal.
What Made It Happen
I wish I could tell you I had a brilliant strategy. I didn’t. But looking back, a few things were true:
I wrote what I actually felt. That Note about not worrying about paid subscribers? I wrote it because I needed to hear it. Not because I thought it would convert anyone. The irony isn’t lost on me.
I showed up consistently. Three months of publishing before anything happened. Three months of writing into what felt like an empty room. Most people quit somewhere in month two.
I didn’t perform expertise I didn’t have. I was early in my Substack journey and I said so. I shared what I was learning as I learned it. People connected with that honesty more than they would have connected with polished authority.
I built in public. Every win, every confusion, every small milestone — I shared it. That transparency created trust before I ever asked for anything.
The Part Nobody Talks About
Those two original paid subscribers? They’re still with me. Almost two years later.
That’s the part that gets me. It wasn’t a one-time transaction. It was the start of a relationship. They didn’t just buy a subscription. They joined a journey. And they stayed.
When I think about my first digital dollar, I don’t think about Medium. I think about two people who saw a Note from someone three months in, felt something, and decided to bet on me.
That bet changed my trajectory more than any algorithm ever could.
If You Haven’t Earned Yours Yet
Stop trying to be impressive. Start being honest.
Write the thing that’s actually on your mind, not the thing you think will perform well. Share where you really are, not where you wish you were. The people who will pay for your words aren’t looking for perfection. They’re looking for someone who gets it.
Your first digital dollar probably won’t come from a viral post. It’ll come from a quiet moment of connection with someone who needed exactly what you said, exactly when you said it.
And you’ll remember who they are.
Trust me.
— Claudia Faith
The Vision of First Digital Dollar Project
By the end of 6 months, we’ll have created more than content.
We’ll have built proof that there are infinite ways to start.
That your background doesn’t determine your future.
That the first dollar is possible for anyone willing to ship, learn, and iterate.
Your story matters.
Your first dollar was a turning point.
Let’s celebrate it together.
More on the project and the list of contributors:
Find out how 20 solopreneurs with different products, different offers, different strategies, different paths earn their first digital dollars.